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Blue Heron tiny house cuts the cord, keeps the home comfortsCanada’s Rewild Homes recently completed this tidy tiny house on wheels that has a very livable looking layout suitable for one or two people. For those looking for maximum freedom, the Blue Heron is also off-grid ready and packs a solar system, batteries, and composting toilet.

Ultrasonic clothes dryers set to shake up the laundryLast year, ORNL scientists revealed they were working on ultrasonic clothes drying technology. At the time, they said they planned to implement the technology in a press dryer and a clothes dryer drum. A new video shows they’ve been true to their word.

Ultra-light micro-camper provides a Homie away from homeThose that liked the cute styling of the bike-towable Wide Path Camper but don’t have the required thighs of steel now have another option. A car-towable version, dubbed the Homie, is available, and includes a dining table, seating and a bed. It can also operate off-the-grid with solar power.

This home could be built using a hex key in under 24 hoursIn Beijing, even cramped apartments can fetch a small fortune, but PAO recently built a new prefab home for a first-time buyer for just US$10,000. Based on the firm’s patented panel system, it can potentially be assembled by a couple of unskilled people in as little as 24 hours using a hex key.

Build your own tiny house with Bunk Box plansFor handy types happy to roll up their sleeves, PAD has collaborated with Shelter Wise to sell plans for its Bunk Box tiny house. Definitely on the smaller side, this model looks best suited as a weekender, second home, or perhaps a guest home.

Floating UFO expected to make sea landing in 2018Italian mini-yacht company Jet Capsule has unveiled an updated version of its UFO (Unidentified Floating Object) off-grid floating home. The UFO 2.0 is larger and more refined, and the firm hopes to get this one built with the help of a crowdfunding campaign.

This new home security system is centered around a flying camera droneThe Sunflower Home Awareness System makes use of “smart lights” that work in concert with a flying camera drone to keep an eye on your property.

EarthCruiser shrinks off-road expedition camping down to Tacoma sizeWhen you build some of the world’s largest, meanest six-figure off-road adventure trucks, at some point you may want to build something smaller to appeal to a different set of buyers. For EarthCruiser, that’s the GZL pickup camper.

Designers raise the roof for spacious container tiny homeWe’ve reported on plenty of container-based homes over the years but here’s one that really stands out thanks to its unusual styling. The unnamed dwelling is conceived as a non-towable tiny house and comprises a relatively roomy interior that includes a full-size bathroom.

Off-grid vacation home would change shape to suit the weatherMichael Jantzen has spent years exploring the idea of interactive architecture. His latest creation, the Malleable Autonomous Retreat House, is envisioned as a novel off-grid vacation home that would allow occupants to fine-tune their interaction with the elements.

Evapolar: The Tiny, Portable AC You Can Carry With YouEvapolar is a technology that uses evaporative cooling to help cool you down. While it is fantastic in dry climates, it really doesn’t work in humid areas.

Prototype tiny house can be assembled in just 3 hoursThe Czech Republic’s Pin-Up Houses has developed a prototype prefab tiny house that may lack in amenities, but excels in cost and speed of assembly. Named France, it comes in at just US$1,200, and takes a team of three just three hours to build.

Freedom tiny house offers big house comforts in a small spaceAs the tiny house scene continues to grow, we’re seeing increasing numbers of large and luxurious builds. The latest example of this trend comes is the Freedom tiny house, which boasts some big house comforts in a small space, including a large bathroom and a walk-in closet.

Amsterdam’s 3D-printed cabin offers tiny living by the canalA former industrial corner of Amsterdam is now home to a tiny new cabin offering urban dwellers a mini-retreat. Local firm DUS Architects 3D-printed the tiny guesthouse to accommodate short-term visitors, who can also enjoy the cabin’s own mini-garden and outdoor bathtub.

High-end prefab micro-home runs on or off-the-gridAvava Systems recently unveiled its debut micro-home, the Britespace. Available in multiple sizes and configurations, the diminutive dwelling can operate on or off-the-grid. It doesn’t come cheap though, with models starting at US$90,000 and rising all the way up to $184,000.

Bold Inventor Releases Futuristic Concept of a Self-Driving ApartmentImaginactive founder Charles Bombardier releases yet another wild futuristic concept: a self-driving apartment that can be driven like a car and raised up on a building to attach to your condominium unit.

Tiny home’s unusual layout maximizes available spaceFrench tiny house firm Baluchon recently completed the Odyssée. In a bid to make use of every inch of available space, the firm designed an unusual interior layout that features an upstairs lounge, a kitchen split into two, and another bedroom that could serve as a child’s room or guest room.

Bicycle-towed caravan due to begin shipping next monthThe Wide Path Camper is a folding caravan that’s towable by bicycle and sleeps two adults and a child. It’s due to roll out of the factory next month and will set you back from €3,500 (roughly US$3,900).

MIT Scientists Create Smart Window that Can Shut Out LightA team of researchers at MIT has found a way to create a smart window that can turn from transparent to almost black. Compared to other systems, this new technology responds fast and requires low power to work.

DARPA is Working to Make Homes That Grow And Can Repair ThemselvesDARPA has just launched the Engineering Living Materials program, with a vision to create building materials that grow on-site. The materials would be used to construct buildings that repair themselves and adapt to the environment.

Logitech Pop simplifies smart home controlLogitech has unveiled a button that can be used to control smart devices around the home. The Pop button will allow users to switch on lights, close the curtains and turn on the heating, or all three things at the same time.

Hybrid shelter lets you sleep high or lowCrua Outdoors, the force behind the insulated Thermo Tent, is bringing its camping innovation to the trees. The all-new Hybrid is a single-person shelter that’s part hammock, part bivy and part tent. And it even brings its own sleeping bag and inflatable mattress.

Low-cost 3D-printed shelter being built from clay and strawLast year we reported on Big Delta, a large 3D printer that showed promise as a method of creating low-cost housing by using mud or clay as a building material. Italy’s WASP appears to be making good on that promise with a new shelter that’s cost just €48 to build so far.

Off Grid caravan battles the bush to let you sleep in luxury’s lapJoining the ranks of off-road camping trailers built to navigate through and shelter in the most rugged slices of Earth, the new Lotus Off Grid brings a little more luxury than most. So you can get away from the everyday world … without giving up the parts you actually like.

Shed-like Tinhouse is a triumph of utilitarian designIf you tell someone their house looks like a shed, it isn’t usually taken as a compliment, but Rural Design’s Tinhouse was designed that way. Located in a rural plot in Scotland’s Isle of Skye, the appealing home echoes the modest agricultural buildings that dot the area.

Top tiny homes on the market todayThe tiny house scene has come a long way in recent years and we continue to be impressed at how firms manage to shoehorn more and more house into what’s really a very small space. Below, we’ve selected some of the best tiny houses currently available for purchase in Europe and North America.

This low-impact house is built from the Earth it stands onWhile undoubtedly modern, there’s an unassuming beauty to Cherem Arquitectos’ Casa Candaleria. It’s the perhaps the choice of materials that is most understated: the house is built from the Earth on which it stands.

Floating house breaks up when its owners doDeciding what to do with the house is a big concern for home-owning couples to sort out when they separate, but Prenuptial Housing takes the sting out of the process. Taking the view that love doesn’t last forever, the floating home splits when its owners do.

Movable concrete micro-home can be installed in just 7 hoursEstonian firm Kodasema is developing a prefabricated concrete micro-home that can be assembled and installed on-site within just seven hours, then moved to another location with relative ease. It’s expected to fetch roughly €100,000 (around US$111,000).

This tiny house is big on luxuryWith tiny houses, luxury features can be left out due to to size constraints, and it’s unusual enough to see a model with a bathtub, let alone something fancier. The Alpha Tiny House, by New Frontier Tiny Homes, is an exception, and boasts real luxury for such a small dwelling.

Robotic folding furniture makes the most of small living spaceGuided by the belief that living space, particularly in cities, has become “too expensive to be static,” furniture startup Ori Systems asked itself how to fit a living room, bedroom, closet and office into a 200-300 sq ft (19-28 sq m) apartment. Its answer is shape-shifting robotic furniture.

Zenbo: The Robot That Can Dance, Answer the Door, and Read You a StoryASUS unveiled its new Zenbo personal home robot. It can connect to your lights, TV, and AC. It can send messages to emergency responders. It can even read to you.

Why every household is about to get a brand-new fridge | TechCrunchToday’s retail economy is focused on acquisition and retention costs. Getting into people’s homes and turning them into long-term brand buyers is the..

New Smart Window Can Turn Opaque With Just The Flick Of A SwitchHarvard researchers have developed a new method of fogging up windows. It is far cheaper than any previous method, and takes just a second to transition.

5 Amazing Kitchen Innovations for 2016 | RealClearTechnology2016 is already well underway and one main trend continues gaining ground: smart homes. The kitchen is no exception, as there are exciting products due to hit the shelves for our kitchens of…

Breed-your-own insect ‘revolution’ for the kitchen – Yahoo NewsFrom Yahoo News: Katharina Unger and Julia Kaisinger, 25 and 28, have developed a device to breed in the comfort of your own home the protein-rich grubs of the meal beetle, to then eat. “The first step is mentally to get over the fact that you are eating an insect.

The Grillbot Is A Robot That Cleans Your Grill | TechCrunchLazy grillers, rejoice. Thanks to the Grillbot, you may never have to clean your grill again. Today at CES we discovered the Grillbot, and it’s exactly..

Cards, codes, fingerprints the new key to home security, Tech News & Top Stories – The Straits TimesHome owners are increasingly opting to go keyless not just for their vehicles, but their homes as well, as the popularity of digital locks has surged over the past three years.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Pegasus Global Holdings is building $1bn ghost city in New Mexico | Daily Mail OnlinePegasus Global Holdings is planning to build a full-scale American town in the New Mexico desert, a place which they hope to open to researchers developing technologies for modern living.

YO! Home: Rise of the transformer homes – CNN.comThe YO! Home is a box of tricks that aims to offer a solution to the challenge of constrained living space in cities by transforming one room into five. ” name=”description

Revolv automation hub aims to unify your home | The VergeHome automation services that combine mobile technology with the devices in your house have been exploding in popularity over the past few years. Devices such as Sonos, Nest, and Philips Hue have…

Smart oven uses image recognition to cook the perfect meal every timeA San Francisco startup has created June, an “intelligent” oven that is able to automatically recognize the food you put in.” data-page-subject=”true” name=”description

Holus brings 3D holograms to the home and officeEnter Holus, the first holographic display planning to reach your homes and offices. No longer do you have to be some Tony Stark-level millionaire to enjoy holographic content!

Amazon Unbundles Alexa Virtual Assistant From Echo With New Dev Tools | TechCrunchAmazon has provided a strong answer to a desire I expressed only yesterday for broader software and hardware support for Alexa, its virtual assistant, and..

Tech analyst Rob Enderle’s tech filled home for sale – Silicon Valley Business JournalInfamous tech analyst Rob Enderle’s San Jose home is on the market. Here are all the high-tech features he has installed in the house over the years.

Long wait for humanoid bartenders | Stockholm Technology BlogMachines can learn language to some extent, but it’s harder to program the context and experience we rely on to not only understand language, but the things we

HoloLens working on way to project realistic 3D people in your homeMicrosoft is working on a way to create a more authentic augmented reality experience with the HoloLens. Microsoft’s challenge of tricking you into believing there are photorealistic 3D people exist